Hi all, I am very new to canning. I had gotten water bath canning equipment for Christmas last year and I planted a salsa garden to make salsa this summer.
I found two recipes that I ended up canning. One of the recipes was a recipe from a canning book and the other was this one: http://www.handmade-frenzy.com/2013/08/pineapple-salsa-recipe-for-canning.html?m=1#google_vignette
Anyway, I have since been reading on this site about botulism and the importance of tested recipes. So I went back to this site and it doesn’t say it’s been tested. I just ate some of it earlier today and now I’m panicked. The recipe does have vinegar and pineapple which should be enough acid, but I told my husband that if I get sick to immediately report to the hospital that I ate this salsa.
Am I being overly neurotic about this? Do you think this recipe is safe? Should I throw away the rest of the jars?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
by OllieOopsie
1 Comment
It’s not a safe recipe, specifically because it calls for thickening the salsa with ClearJel. Thickening salsas is specifically not allowed in safe recipes. [Here’s the reference](https://extension.umn.edu/preserving-and-preparing/canning-tomato-based-salsa#:~:text=Don't%20thicken%20salsas%20with,canned%20salsa%20in%20the%20refrigerator), and the specific passage is this:
* Don’t thicken salsas with cornstarch, flour or other thickeners before canning. Add thickeners after opening the salsa if desired.
You likely didn’t poison yourself this time, because food poisoning isn’t a thing that’s guaranteed to happen. Thank goodness! However, I would dump the pineapple salsa and use a different recipe next year.
I’m sorry, that’s so disheartening.